Duel Elements: The Legend of Kira
by ASHtheMUSICALgirl13
Summary: Kira is a 1/2 Water Tribe 1/2 Fire Nation waterbender born in the South Pole but raised in a Fire Nation colony. She is on a journey to reunite her family, save her parents long imprisoned by the Fire Lord,find the Avatar,and help end the war.Did I mention she is also a master swordswoman, is Katara and Sokka's cousin, and that her mother is Hakoda's waterbending twin sister?
1. Book 1 Water Ch 1

*The only disclaimer I am writing for this fic: I do not own Avatar, Avatar: the Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Aang, or anything in this fic. I love A:TLA and LOK, so I write with complete respect to the source material. I have been a fan since the trailers came out back in summer of 2004 for what would be my favorite series ever! I watched the premiere of every single episode and cried at the end of the series from both sadness and happiness. Also, if M. Night Shayamalan can make a theatrical fanfiction for his daughter (I am dead serious, watch an interview of his for the Last Airbender movie that bored me nearly to death) then why can I not write a fanfction that even at its worst cannot be even in the same universe with how bad the movie was (in plot, acting, casting, and overall directing!).*

Author's Note: Finally I have started actually writing this thing! 5 years ago I came up with an alternate universe of A:TLA series centered around two OC characters I came up with in my main character of this fic is not Aang, but Katara's cousin Kira, daughter of Hakoda's nonexistent waterbending twin sister Tara (whom Katara is named for). The first couple chapters serve as a back story to my OCs, so Katara and everyone else wont make an appearance until at least chapter 4, maybe even later. It will take a year or two at least, maybe several, but I am re-writing the series with my own spin even though I love the canon one so much! I might even do an AU Legend of Korra follow up/sequel to this fic, but that wont be until this fic is finished. So enjoy the fanfic, review if you want. Follows and Favorites are much appreciated but not mandatory for me. Updates will be irregular for me, I have work and college classes to do, plus I have the entire re-write in my head, but not written or typed out.

_**Duel Elements: The Legend of Kira**_

**Book 1 Water Chapter 1 Zira**

_Intro read in Kira's voice: "Water and Fire, Earth and Air. My uncle often told me stories about a time when the world was not at war. Our world is traditionally divided into four major nations based on the four major elements. The Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. Long ago these four nations lived together as opposites yet together also in peace and harmony, but then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked, wiping out the entire Air Nomad race and bringing destruction wherever they go. Only the Avatar, the one person born with the power to bend not one, but all four of the major elements at will, was powerful enough to stop them, but when the world needed him most, he perished. A hundred years later and the Fire Nation has almost completely succeeded in their plans for world domination. When the new Avatar, an airbender, never made an appearance after the Air temples were destroyed, most assumed he had died and was reborn into the Water Tribes. While the Northern Water Tribe has remained untouched by the war and isolated from the world, the Southern Water Tribe has been devastated. The last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe was captured along with her non-bending traitor Fire Nation lover and they were imprisoned directly at the capitol under the personal imprisonment of the Fire Lord himself. Some say the lovers were secretly married in the Earth Kingdom and had been fleeing to the safety of Ba Sing Se before they were apprehended by the Fire Nation bounty hunters. They also say that the lovers had a child together, a female waterbender, although the infant has disappeared and was never captured by the bounty hunters. I have lived in a Fire Nation colony in the Southern part of the Earth Kingdom since I was a baby, yet I know of the truth about this war. My aunt and uncle had taken me in when I was separated from my parents. They are Fire Nation, but they raised me to respect the rest of the world, and allowed me to secretly criticize my own home nation. I believe the airbending Avatar is still alive since his death was assumed but never really confirmed. I also believe that someday I will leave my Fire Nation village behind and travel the world, reuniting with my imprisoned parents while also finding and aiding the Avatar in finally ending this war and bringing peace back into the world…"_

* * *

><p><em>A small camp somewhere in the middle part of the Earth Kingdom on route to Ba Sing Se. It is about midnight as four travelers are resting for the night. They have little supplies and the couple lays on a blanket while their friend, who is like a brother to them both, sits across on the cold dirt. A fire barely crackles as an Earth Kingdom man with tan skin, emerald eyes, and short brown hair silently keeps watch for any dangers. He is escorting a couple, some old friends of his, and their year old daughter to the safety of the Earth Kingdom fortress, the great walled city of Ba Sing Se. The couple is odd, both young and each one a member of a different nation, which is highly unusual as the war has made them natural enemies. In fact, they are headed to the famous city in order to avoid being captured by bounty hunters as the Fire Lord himself has ordered their imprisonment personally. <em>

_The young woman, barely eighteen years old, is obviously Water Tribe, with turquoise eyes, dark skin, and reddish-brown hair that is more brown than auburn. She is shorter than her husband, thin from many months of traveling by foot with meager meals and nourishment, and she wears a pale mint green tunic with moss green pants and muddy tan boots. Her hair is long and mostly loose, with only one thin piece of hair on each side of her face tied and clipped to the back of her head in a Water Tribe style referred to as hair loops, the same style as her mother always wore. Around her neck is a water tribe betrothal necklace, a sign of marriage, and it is a choker style with purple silk and a circular pale blue crystal with the symbols of a flame on one side and the ocean waves on the opposite side, the carved symbols are outlined in barely noticeable red Fire Nation paint. The Water Tribe woman is asleep, holding onto her daughter as her husband holds them both in his secure arms, although he is asleep as well._

_The husband is Fire Nation, a nonbender only a few months older than his young wife, and is considered a traitor for his relationship with a woman from the Water Tribes. It is her being a waterbender which is why Fire Lord Azulon is so invested in their capture. He is average height, with pale skin slightly tanned from months of excessive traveling by foot alongside his wife and his best friend, he has coal black hair, cocoa powder brown eyes, and he is extremely muscular from years of sword fight training, of which he has long since mastered. His attire is also Earth Kingdom, green-brown shirt and pants with dark brown boots, as the couple is trying to escape the wraith of the Fire Nation by hiding as Earth Kingdom refugees in the supposedly impenetrable city. _

_Their infant daughter greatly resembles her mother, with the same hair and eyes, however her skin is as pale as her father. The couple has recently discovered that their pride and joy is a waterbender like her mother, and they have a feeling she will accomplish many great things in her life, far more than even they have done. The couple's priority is to protect their daughter at all costs, even if there comes a point where they will have to sacrifice each other in order to do so. If anything should happen to them, the husband and wife have decided to have their friend send their daughter to live with the man's older cousin. However they hope they can outwit the Fire Nation long enough to get safely into the walled city. _

_The sound of approaching Fire Nation army war rhinos shatters this precious hope. The couple abruptly awakens and both sit up in an instant. The husband grabs his nearby katana as his wife runs to their friend, quickly handing over their daughter. She runs back to her bag on the mostly forgotten blanket that held great comfort only a moment ago, grabbing an emergency note she had written in advance for her husband's cousin and his wife, both of whom were also close friends in what once had been a group of anti-war traveling teenagers. Where they were sending their daughter the Fire Lord would never find her. The woman also unbuckles her necklace and hands it over to her friend. _

"_Please hold onto this," the woman cries, eager to join her husband in trying to fight off the bounty hunters, "One day I am certain Kira will find you. When the time is right she will try to find us, I just know it, and this way she will have something to connect her to us."_

"_Kuzon!" yells the woman running to go catch up with her husband and aid him in the fight against the bounty hunters, "I'm coming I won't leave you behind! If we go down, we go down together!" _

"_But Tara!" yells the earthbending friend, though at this point she is too far into the battle to hear him. With his friends doing their best to distract the bounty hunters from noticing their friend holding their daughter, the earthbending fisherman holds onto the infant tightly as he runs off into the night, the necklace buckled securely around his left wrist…_

* * *

><p>In an old Fire Nation colony on the southeastern coast of the Earth Kingdom a young teenage girl is deeply asleep, in spite of the fact that it is nearly midday. Her long chestnut brown hair shines as the sunlight hits it from the girl's window to her left. She only wears a simple red nightgown and under clothes, which exposes her pale skin, but not to an indecent degree, as she lays on a simple but comfortable bed. She clutches a small brown blanket she has had since before she could remember, the only known possession from her parents. The girl has lived with her aunt and uncle nearly her entire life so far, being the daughter they always wanted since they could not have any children of their own. However, this did not mean that the couple allowed their "princess" to become spoiled.<p>

"Zira, wake up, it is almost afternoon!" yells the girl's aunt, a tall black haired woman with grey eyes that can be both cold at times, but mischievous at other times "Master Piando will be arriving in town soon and you know he has traveled far from the mainland to come see for himself how far you've come in your sword training."

When Zira shows no signs of awakening, the girl's aunt walks into kitchen of the one story home and grabs a bucket before going outside to the pump to get some water. Returning into her niece's room, the aunt shamelessly dumps the frigid water on top of the sleeping teen. With a yelp Zira reluctantly awakens, completely soaked.

"Aunt Yumi, was this really necessary," comments an annoyed Zira as she quickly blinks open her river blue eyes before glaring at Yumi, "I was starting to get up, honest!"

"Sure you were oh great Princess Zira," sarcastically replies Yumi, "You and your staying up at all hours of the night at least once a month."

"You know I can't help it!" replies the teen as she dries herself off with a towel from the washroom, "Every time there is a full moon I just feel so restless and can't seem to get any sleep."

"Zira!" Yumi mutters tensely.

"I know, I know. No speaking about my special problem," interrupts Zira as she changes her night clothes for a grey tunic, red long sleeved undershirt, matching grey pants, and tan boots. She combs and pulls her hair into a simple bun before grabbing her signature katana that she has been training with for three years under Master Piando's instruction, although she does not see her master often since he lives in the Fire Nation Main Islands far from her simple colony/village. Almost ready to go, Zira gives her aunt a big hug as a sign of forgiveness for waking her up and grabs a roll from the kitchen for breakfast/lunch as she runs out the door, eager to see her master after she last saw him six months ago and he told her to focus more on the advanced moves that marked her time of complete mastery of katana style sword fighting coming closer by each new day.

* * *

><p>A few moments later and Zira finds her master where they always meet when he comes to visit her village.<p>

"Three years ago today marked the beginning of your training," states Master Piando, one of the world's greatest swordfighters, "If you have learned only one thing it is that…" He purposely cuts off his statement to have his student answer him.

"One must always be aware of their surroundings, an unknown threat can be there undoing," answers Zira.

In that moment she notices her master move his hand as swiftly as possible to the handle of his long sword. Reacting quicker than even her master, Zira pulls out her katana she had made herself two years ago and blocks his expert blow flawlessly. Impressed, Piando does his best to hide his pride and keep a blank face. He goes in for the offensive, but it is not long before Zira has switched tactics and gotten even the great sword master on the defensive. It takes over an hour of heavy fighting on both sides before Piando falls to the ground and declares Zira the victor of their small fight.

"Zira, in the three years I have taught you, you have grown immensely in patience, skill, and discipline," announces Master Piando proudly, "You and my other student both struggled with these qualities at first. I am proud to say that both of you have learned to control these important aspects of the art of swordplay without forsaking your creativity and flexibility. Although I see you are still somewhat clumsy, you have far better control of your body than I have ever seen you fight before. I am afraid there is not much more about the katana I can teach you. Zira, you must travel and interact with other fellow warriors, both enemy and friendly, in order to learn more. A true master knows he or she always has more to learn and adapts what they have already learned into their own personal technique."

"Master Piando are you making me a master?" asks Zira with a shocked expression, she was not expecting to be granted the title of master on this seemingly normal day.

"Zira I could not make you a master, I could only guide you on your way to becoming one yourself, which I feel I have done so to the best of my abilities," replies Master Piando with a hint of amusement in his normally stoic voice at the expression his student had unknowingly just given him, "You have come a long way in just a few short years. As far as I am concerned, you have earned the title of Master Katana Wielder. It is a title you have earned through hard work not given because your aunt descends from a Noble family."

"So, I'm really a master now," states the cautiously excited girl before she cannot help herself and gives her master a big grin. Then she respectfully bows to him as he bows to her.

"Yes," agrees the grand sword master, "Zira, remember, the way of the sword does not just belong to the Fire Nation. It belongs to everyone and to all nations. It is neither good nor evil but rather a tool for whomever wields it and like bending, the sword brings power and tremendous responsibility. Use your abilities only for survival, to not do so will bring unnecessary pain and misfortune into your life, sending you down a dark path that would be hard to escape from."

"I will remember, Master," states Zira seriously.

"Then this is goodbye for now," announces Master Piando regretfully, "as much as I would rather have a day to rest, I must be going so I can challenge my other student as well. I am certain he is ready to face my trials as you have done and earn the title of master as well."

Before her master re-boards his small ship, Kira shouts out loud, "What kind of weapon does your other student fight with? I was always curious but never had a chance to ask. And will you ever tell me his name, you were always comparing use and using both of us as examples for one another?"

"Dao Swords," replies Piando in a mysterious voice, "And no, just like your identity, his identity will also remain anonymous. However, I am certain you will both cross paths someday, hopefully as allies rather than enemies. Farewell Zira,"

"Goodbye, Master…" states Zira quietly.

* * *

><p>In another hour her friends Leiko and Rin should be done with firebending class for the day. Zira and her other friend Hina are homeschooled by their parents (aunt and uncle in Zira's case), however Leiko, Rin, and Rin's younger sister Taka, being firebenders, go to a special Fire Nation Royal charter school that although takes in nonbenders from time to time, as a rule avoids accepting them.<p>

Running over to Hina's house, Zira cannot wait to tell her friends the exciting news of her becoming a master. Unfortunately in her haste to catch up with her friend, Zira accidently runs into the local leader of the street punks, Sieto, an arrogant firebender who happens to have a crush on Zira for some reason even though she openly hates him. His nonbending, pirate sword wielding best friend Jiro is not far behind him.

"Hey Zira Ra," states the arrogant and ignorant Sieto at Zira in his poor attempt at flirting with her, receiving the glares from his fan girls in the near distance. He offers her a hand to help her up, but she jumps back up instead, rebuffing him.

"Sieto, how many times must I tell you I am not at all interested in you and for you to not talk to me and leave me alone!," states Zira angrily as she glares at the brown haired, brown eyed firebender with his firebending school uniform still on and his hair messy and sticking up as always, "I don't like you! In fact, I still hate you! Go away!"

"Still playing hard to get, huh Miss Ra," teases the jerkbender who enjoys torturing those who are poorer and weaker than him, he is basically a bully but without the sob story since his life is nearly perfect.

"Grrr…don't call me that!" noticing the way she said that statement she adds while blushing with anger and embarrassment, "Don't call me anything at all!"

"Yeah and what are you going to do miss nonbender? Nag me to death," he laughs at her, not realizing he is standing too close to the end of the dock. Jiro has backed off, giving his buddy time with Zira alone.

"Actually I happen to be a master sword wielder now!" announces Zira fiercely , "I can defend myself even from the likes of you! And you know what, you're an idiot!"

"What!" yells Sieto angrily. Before he even has time to take a breath, Zira pushes the bully firebender off the edge of the dock. Although Sieto grabs onto the dock and starts to pull himself back up, the water tugs on him, pulling him completely down into the cold fall temperature water.

"Cold!" he squeals like a little girl even though he is a boy older than Zira and nearly old enough to be considered a man by Fire Nation standards and serve in the Army or Navy, "Zira! Help me up! Now!"

"Nope, I hate you a little less this way, but not much less," Zira teases as she walks away with a satisfied smile on her face. Jiro, after hearing his best friend's unmanly noise, rushes over to help pull Sieto out of the freezing water.

* * *

><p>Finally, Zira runs into Hina. Hina is similar in both looks and abilities to Ty Lee, who is a bubbly nonbending acrobatic chi blocker and close friend to Princess Azula, of whom she is a big fan and even wears similar pink clothing. Once she heard Ty Lee had joined the circus Hina desperately wants to get tickets to go see her live.<p>

"Zira, what took you so long?" asks Hina curiously.

"Well after sword practice with Piando, I ran into guess who?" states Zira still annoyed at the resident bullies.

"Sieto and Jiro," replies Hina without hesitation.

"I was in a good mood too," sighs Zira, "Hina, I mastered sword fighting today! I may not be a firebender, but I am still a master, and before Leiko and Rin too, ha ha ha!"

Both girls started a laughing fit at picturing their firebending friends reacting to this news.

"What's so funny?" asks Leiko, a raven haired firebending beauty with grey eyes.

"Not that I care," also comments Rin, who is walking beside Leiko with her little sister Taka. Unlike all her friends, Rin is dark, humorless, emotionless, and the opposite of the little ball of cute energy that is her sister. While both sisters have black hair with bangs and amber/orange colored eyes, Taka is full of innocence while Rin lacks innocence. Rin also has longer hair than Taka which she wears in a simple high ponytail. All three girls wear the same uniform of the charter school they attend, gold shoes, black skirts, black jacket with gold embroidery, and a sash around the waist but Taka lacks the gold sash that marks a final year student worn by Leiko and her sister and instead has the white sash of a first year student.

"I pushed Sieto into the docks," states Zira.

"You always do that, tell us something new for once Zira," complains Rin with a frown.

"I am also a Master Katana Sword Wielder now, officially granted the title by the great Master Piando himself!" exclaims Zira proudly.

"Wow, I'm happy for you!" states Leiko happily, "But I'm also so jealous, you became a master before me!"

"That's okay, I guess," comments Rin emotionless, but with the hint of a smile, "Hina if clumsy Zira can master something, so can you. Just because you are a nonbender too doesn't mean you can't take up some weapon training or something."

"I already told you guys," states a frustrated Hina, "I am training. I am training myself to be an acrobat so I can join Ty Lee in the circus."

"You obsession with Azula's lackey is almost as bad as Taka's obsession with being just like me," states the resident gothic chick, "Taka I can understand, she is my little sister and she is only six years old. You however are sixteen and not even remotely related to the queen of pink."

"Hey, I'm right here ya'know Rinni!" yells said six year old girl in her squeaky voice.

"Well, you are just like Mai, Azula's other friend," comments Zira towards Rin, "And Leiko you do have your Princess Azula moments."

"And what about you ZiZi?" asks Taka curiously.

"I dunno. Maybe Azula has a fourth friend she is too embarrassed to talk about and considering she is friends with Ty Lee, that is saying something," laughs Zira and the others minus Rin join her although Rin cracks a full smile this time before going back to being blank faced. Reading gossip scrolls of the Royal family, especially about the princess around their age and her "friends", is a favorite past time of this group of friends.

* * *

><p>As the sun sets, everyone goes to their respective homes. As Zira walks home alone to her house just outside of town, she has this feeling that her life is about to change forever. She tries the shrug off the feeling, but as she walks through the front door of her aunt and uncle's house, she still carries that anxious feeling. She walks into the house to her uncle being home from his job at the local library and staring at her with a serious expression unusual on his typically humor filled face, his brown, bespectacled eyes boring into her own turquoise ones.<p>

"Uncle Satoru?" asks Zira, "What's wrong?"

"Zira," states Satoru thoughtfully, "Your aunt and I have some important information we need to talk to you about."…


	2. Book 1 Water Ch 2

_**Duel Elements: The Legend of Kira**_

**Book 1 Water Chapter 2 Duel Identities, One Destiny**

_She walks into the house to her uncle being home from his job at the local library and staring at her with a serious expression unusual on his typically humor filled face, his brown, bespectacled eyes boring into her own turquois ones. _

"_Uncle Satoru?" asks Zira, "What's wrong?"_

"_Zira," states Satoru thoughtfully, "Your aunt and I have some important information we need to talk to you about."…_

"What is it?" asks the confused teen.

"Zira, do you remember what today is?" questions Yumi.

"Um…Tuesday," replies a confused Zira, "The 3rd year anniversary of the day I started my sword fighting training under Master Piando after he visited our village seeking out a new student from the colonies. The day I have been officially declared a Master Swordswoman and I have a signed paper from Master Piando to prove it."

"Why did Master Piando come out all this way to specifically train you?" elaborates Satoru.

"Because for my thirteenth birthday I wanted to start sword training since I couldn't join my friends at their school and I was sick of feeling so helpless against the local bullies," states Zira as she suddenly realizes how she must be the most forgetful girl in the entire world, "So on my birthday exactly Master Piando arrived because he trained you when you were thirteen too and you asked him if he would consider training me. I forgot today was my birthday!"

"You friends didn't remind you?" as Yumi suppressing her laughter.

"No one remembered!" stated Zira sadly.

"That's not true," Yumi disagrees, "I wished you happy birthday but you ran out of the house so quickly you did not hear me."

"And I made you a special birthday breakfast consisting of your favorite pancakes, fire flake pancakes with papaya syrup, but you snatched a roll my little fire ferret and skipped my breakfast," announces the black haired bespectacled professor looking librarian disappointedly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," apologizes Zira sadly, "I was running late because I didn't get any sleep last night. I shouldn't be so inconsiderate of what you both do for me. Aunt Yumi, Uncle Satoru, you are both the closest thing I have had to parents since my own were taken from me. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay either of you."

"How many times must we remind you we are family and your parents especially trusted you into our care when they couldn't take care of you themselves my little princess," comments Satoru affectionately, "There is nothing you can repay us for. We wanted a daughter of our own and we were blessed with taking care of you. However as of today you are sixteen years old. According to your mother's side of your family you have come of marrying age and are now an adult in their eyes. While the final choice is up to you, we are willing to let you go and begin your journey of finally being reunited with your parents, aiding you anyway that we can Zira, because we love you."

"How?" asks a nearly speechless Zira.

"Fifteen years ago today a mutual close friend of ours and your parents brought you to the safety of our home. He is an earthbending fisherman named Riku who lives in a fishing village about a week away from Kiyoshi Island, which in turn is a month away by foot. If you go to him he can help you get the supplies and transportation to get you to the South Pole, where members of your mother's family still live," Yumi states seriously, "Last I recall you have an Uncle named Hakoda, your mother's nonbending twin brother, Aunt Kya, grandmother Kanna, and cousin Sokka who is a few months younger than you from what I can recall from your mother's letters. You were born in the Southern Water Tribe and after nearly a year later they thought it would be safer to move to Ba Sing Se and completely out of the danger of the Fire Nation, only they never made it. So instead you were raised in a Fire Nation colony, right in plain sight. I have not had contact with your mother's family since before your parents' imprisonment, but fortunately I do have remote contact with your parents via my older brother Shang, who is the main guard in charge of them. They are alive and their main form of punishment and torture is being separated from each other and you but knowing you are not so far away, and you growing up without them. The previous Fire Lord Azulon enjoyed this form of torture, however Ozai seems to not care either way and if there was ever a time to rescue them, it is now. We will support you either way."

"If you need time to think this over, we will gladly give it to you," Satoru states after a moment of silence from his niece.

"No, my parents might not have much time left!" announces Zira urgently, "I will take on my real name, find my family in the South Pole, learn waterbending from the masters in the North Pole, and free my parents. And help end this war like I always dreamed of! Maybe I'll even help find the Avatar!"

"It's a good plan Zir…er Kira," Satoru comments, "But remember to do one thing at a time if you can, doing all that at once will be too overwhelming for just one person."

"Kira. It's going to take me awhile to get used to my own name," states Kira absent mindedly.

"Kira or Zira you are still our niece and we still love you," acknowledges Yumi as she embraces the shaking teen on the verge of tears. In just one night her world is completely upside down and changed forever.

"Besides, you will always be our little princess," agrees Satoru without a bit of hesitation as both he and Yumi hug their now grown up little girl.

* * *

><p>The next day Satoru is finishing purchasing Kira's supplies. He knows through minimum quarter yearly contact with Riku that the earthbender will help Kira get to the South Pole. In order to be in steady contact with his nieceadopted daughter, he also purchase's a messenger hawk whom Kira affectionately names Leechy after the hawk threw leechy nuts at Sieto who tried yet again to flirt with her.

The hardest part will come the next day when Kira will be alone for the first time in her life, and traveling outside of the colony for the first time in her self-aware life. Although to the teen it feels like the hardest part of this journey will be saying goodbye to her friends, which she plans to do so as soon as her father is done helping her purchase useful supplies. She knows how to camp and gather supplies, her aunt and uncle would take her on many camping trips and always take her to the market to learn about how to survive in the world, but as much as they did their best not to spoil her, Kira was their baby girl. No, not Kira…Zira, Kira was a novice waterbender forced to live a double life that the new identity nearly took over her true self. But not anymore, Zira is no more…gone…left behind in this small Fire Nation colony/village. Once she says goodbye to her friends, she knows in her heart she won't be able to see them again until the war is over, although they were never really her friends. They were Zira's friends. Zira the librarian and former Noblewoman's niece/adopted daughter who was a nonbender and liked to make fun of the Fire Nation Royal family in the gossip scrolls and push Seito into the water from the docks, forceful but harmless. Outside if she encountered Seito she would be almost obligated to attack as he will have gone from a nuisance to the enemy, well that's not really a stretch he was always the enemy.

* * *

><p>Kira decides to walk to the dock one last time before she will head out on her journey the next morning.<p>

"Surprise!" cheers her friends at the dock, somehow she had a feeling they would all be there.

"Happy belated birthday Zira!" they chant, they meaning Leiko, Hina, and little Taka. Rin just smiles, which is surprising in itself since Rin almost never smiles or shows any kind of emotion. Tears well up in Kira…no right now she is still Zira's eyes.

"We are sorry we forgot, but you did forget too you idiot," smirks Rin affectionately, in her own way.

"Guys, thanks so much for this!" Zira states gesturing to the large cake and pile of presents, "You know you didn't have to get me anything. Your friendships are all I could ever ask for from all of you, and I already have that."

"Zira we know you are moving to the Fire Nation to go live with your grandmother for a while and get a chance to know her. We will miss you so much, but honor and family is most important. We understand and our glad your uncle decided to tell us in person today while you slept in like always," Leiko reveals.

"Most people from the Fire Nation tend to rise with the sun. You seem to rise more with the moon. Sometimes I swear you were a waterbender in another life Zira," comments Rin sarcastically.

"I'm gonna miss you so much!" sobs Hina with tears gushing out of her eyes, being overly dramatic as usual, "We all are! Even cynical Rin!"

"Will you come back and visit. Will we ever see you again?" asks Taka sadly, even though she was only Rin's little sister, she still looked up to Zira as a mentor and as a friend.

"My uncle bought me a messenger hawk so when I am not busy I will do my best to send as many messages as I can, but I'll be spending most of my time with my grandmother. She hasn't seen me since I was a baby," replies Zira, although she is conflicted about whether or not she is actually going to write to any of her old friends once she completely steps into her new life. They share one last group hug before Zira walks home, as always by herself.

* * *

><p><em>With his friends doing their best to distract the bounty hunters from noticing their friend holding their daughter, the earthbending fisherman holds onto the infant tightly as he runs off into the night, the necklace buckled securely around his left wrist. It takes a couple of weeks, but on the one year anniversary of Kira's birth, Riku finally makes it to the small house just outside the Fire Nation colony where Satoru and Yumi are waiting. He had sent Tara's emergency letter to Satoru via Satoru's own personal messenger hawk that had found him with a message asking how the trip to Ba Sing Se was coming along. After quickly handing Kira over to Yumi, Riku disappeared into the night, heading on his own way home. <em>

"_Satoru, what are we going to call her?" asks a conflicted Yumi, "I don't want to change her name, but Kira is a Water Tribe name and this is a Fire Nation colony!"_

"_Kuzon told me he and Tara named her after his mother, my aunt Zira, but he insisted on using the Water Tribe version of that name," replies a thoughtful Satoru, "If we call her Zira, we are not really changing her name, just using a different version. We will be her aunt and uncle but we will treat her like our own daughter."_

"_She's a waterbender Satoru," comments Yumi worriedly, "We are going to have to train her to hide her abilities until she is old enough to leave this colony."_

"_We may not be waterbenders, but control is a similar lesson in all bending forms." States Satoru as he looks directly at his firebending wife, "I am not a bender, but I do know some self-control training from studying the katana, although Kuzon was better at it then me since I am not much of a fighter. I am more of a man of words then action."_

"_And that is why I love you 'Toru," comments Yumi affectionately as she kisses her husband on the right side of his face just below his glasses line and above the chin, "And we will love Kira too, she needs us 'Toru and we need her." The young couple look on at the sleeping Kira/Zira with a bittersweet smile, overjoyed at having a baby of their own, but saddened by the bleak fate of her parents. The lunar light and power are completely absent from the sky on this new moon night. _


	3. Book 1 Water Ch 3

_**Duel Elements: The Legend of Kira**_

**Book 1 Water Chapter 3 the Fisherman's Son**

Kira is traveling in the same outfit she has worn since her birthday several weeks ago. The only slight difference is her red hooded cloak she wears over her outfit to keep her warm as the weather grows colder and closer to the winter solstice. She is also wearing a brown cloth backpack full of supplies and money to buy future supplies from her uncle. The environment is a beautiful forest with trees barely holding onto their red and golden leaves. Homesickness has been bothering Kira since her first night away from home.

* * *

><p>"<em>I can't believe I'm really leaving," states a distracted Kira as she stares out in front of her towards the unknown and away from the Fire Nation colony that has been her home for fifteen years and for most of her life so far. Standing next to her are her Uncle Satoru and Aunt Yumi, both fighting hard to keep the smiles on their faces and the tears away from their eyes. It is a sunny morning with a clear bright baby blue sky. The air is cool, the typical fall weather. "Again, I cannot thank you both for being there for me when my own parents could not," thanks Kira seriously, "I will not hold it against them when I do see them again, but they will never be able to replace either of you as the people who raised me to be who I am today and who I will become in the future. I hope you are not disappointed in me for choosing to fight against the Fire Nation after I reunite with my other family." <em>

"_We could never be prouder of you Kira for doing what you believe is right," states Yumi proudly, "And you are welcome, although we have already told you there is no need to thank us. We needed you just as much if not more than you needed us. We wish you a safe journey and we hope you find what you are looking for. This war has caused so much destruction and pain, but it has also brought the most unlikely people together."_

"_Remember all that we and Master Piando have taught you and you will do fine," agrees Satoru, "No matter what happens you will always be our little girl. We love you and are proud of you no matter what happens. Now, get going, your story will never begin if you continue to hesitate and question your every move. We will see you again when the time is right but do not look back, not for one moment more. Take what you have learned and move forward into the future." _

"_Goodbye Aunt, Uncle," Kira states sadly as she gives them each a strong hug and then waves them both goodbye before moving forward in the direction of Riku's Village and into the beginning of living her true life, her new messenger hawk Leechy perched on her left shoulder and her supplies and katana strapped securely to her back. Later that night in her first camp, Kira cannot sleep because of how much she misses her life as Zira, the easy and happy life she left behind. Still in her heart Kira knows she is doing the right thing in choosing to be her true self and help stop the Fire Nation's spread of tyranny and destruction._

* * *

><p>However, Kira has done what her uncle advised her to do, to not look back on what has already happened and can be unchanged but instead to think about what could happen and what she would want to change to the best of her abilities, if said things and events should be changed at all. Traveling with little human contact, Kira has been feeling more alone than she has ever felt when hiding her identity as Zira. She continues hiking, hoping to reach Riku's village soon so she can finally start traveling to her family in the Southern Water Tribe, or at least what is left of them. Her uncle told her about why the Southern Water Tribe has no waterbenders, how her and her mother were the last two alive, about the other new waterbender who was killed in the latest Fire Nation raid on the South Pole when Kira was only six years old. Kira tries not to think about having any personal relation to the dead bender, but she feels that she had.<p>

Ahead of Kira is an Earth Kingdom boy being harassed by two older Fire Nation boys, sadly familiar Fire Nation boys to Kira. The Earth Kingdom boy is shorter than her, with tan skin, emerald eyes and short, cropped brown hair. His face has a terrified expression, caused by one of the other boys holding a flame in the palm of his hand and making some kind of threat.

"Seito, what are you doing so far from home, stalking me again," Kira states condescendingly.

"Zira! What are you doing out here?" asks Seito.

Jiro adds, "A helpless nonbending girl shouldn't be wondering so far from home by herself."

"One, I am a Master Katana Wielder and far from helpless! And wouldn't that make you just as helpless Jiro since you yourself are a nonbender!" Kira angrily replies, as she unsheathes her katana, "Two, if you must know I am traveling to visit my grandmother and no I will not disclose her location to you two idiots, and three if you continue to follow me I will have you both arrested in the closest colony' for stalking me! That is, if you both will still be in one piece!"

"Seito, maybe we should go," gulps Jiro as Kira's katana is pointed into his pale face.

"But…fine!" yells Seito defeated, "First, let's finish with this pipsqueak, no one insults me and gets away with it!"

"I said leave now, Seito!" glares Kira, "I won't hesitate to hurt you!"

"Come on Seito," pleads Jiro, his tough act fully abandoned at the moment.

The two bully Fire Nation boys head in the direction of home, Seito's posture slumped to show his dejectedly feelings as Zira had apparently proved to him she would never be interested in him.

"Are you okay?" asks Kira in a soft voice, her face changed from cold and menacing to warm and friendly, "I know those two jerks from a past life I am leaving behind. All they do is bully people they think are weaker than them when they are the true weak ones!"

"I'm okay," replies the shaken boy, "I said a joke that made the firebender really angry with me, something about how firebenders like to torture helpless children, and he proved my point."

"I agree with you on that," laughs Kira, "Not all firebenders though, just Seito, the Fire Lord, Princess Azula, and my friend Rin."

"Zira? I'm Ryu, the local fisherman's son," introduces the boy shyly with a slight blush on his face.

"My real name is Kira," states Kira, "My past is…complicated, but I assure you my true loyalty is not to the nation I have my clothes from, but from the Water Tribes, and as an ally to the Earth Kingdom. I've lived most of my life hiding who I really was for my own safety."

"Wow, your life is far more exciting than mine," comments Ryu, "I just help my father out by doing chores and going on fishing trips with him. Kind of boring, until today that is."

"I'm sorry you had the misfortune of meeting Seito and Jiro," apologizes Kira half-jokingly. Both laugh at her comment.

"It's alright," Ryu states happily, his shakiness seeming to have disappeared, "Do you need a place to stay for the night, it's starting to get late and my dad and I have enough room at our house, we are only an hour away from my village. Think of it as a thanks for scaring off those Fire Nation creeps."

"Okay," agrees Kira, "Out of curiosity, how old are you anyway?"

"I'm fourteen years old, but my dad trusts me with a lot of responsibility for someone my age since it's just the two of us," Ryu replies, "I was busy selling some of fish in a neighboring village when I ran into them and you."

"I just turned sixteen last month," reveals Kira, "that makes me an adult where I am originally from in the Southern Water Tribe, so my Aunt and Uncle told me to go travel the world and reconnect with other members of my family. My life was normal before my birthday though, for the most part."

"I don't think I'll ever get to travel the world like you," comments Ryu sadly, "My father needs me since I am the only family he has left."

"Hey, you never know, your dad could send you out to travel the world one day," counters Kira, "In my experience, anything is possible."

* * *

><p>An hour later Ryu and Kira reach Ryu's home village. The village is small and in a state of poverty. Close to the docks is a large house. This is Ryu's home. Said boy knocks on the front door, hoping his father is home at the moment. Ryu and his father lock their home up when they are away from home to deter thieves.<p>

"Dad, are you home!" yells Ryu, "I'm back and I brought a guest. Could you please let us in?"

The door opens and what looks to be a much older, bearded version of Ryu opens answers the door.

"Sure," replies the thirty something year old man who looks much older, "who is our guest?"

"Her name is Kira and she saved me from a bunch of Fire Nation bullies even though she looks Fire Nation herself," announces Ryu.

"Kira?" states the man, "Well, you two come in, it's getting late and this village ain't exactly the safest place to be at night."

"Kira," Ryu introduces, "this is my father Riku, the local Master fisherman."

"Riku?" the girl asks, "That's who I've been looking for! Ryu I need to talk with your father alone, it's about my complicated past."

"Alright," states a dejected Ryu feeling left out, "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me."

"Kira, the last time I saw you," states Riku nostalgically, "You were just a year old and I held you in my arms as I gave you to Satoru and Yumi."

"Did my Uncle send you a message warning you I was coming here?" Kira asks.

"Yes, Satoru and I have kept light contact with each other over the past fifteen years, since your parents' imprisonment," replies Riku, "You have grown so much, a Master from what Satoru told me in his most recent letter."

"Yeah, a Master Katana Wielder," acknowledges Kira, "but I am only a novice at waterbending."

"Becoming a true master at anything is a great feat in itself, no matter what it is that you have mastered," instructs Riku, "Your parents would be so proud of you. In fact, wait right here!"

Riku runs out of the living room to his room, grabs a dusty old box, and runs back out to Kira. He blows on the box to remove some of the dust and opens the box, handing a purple silk blue crystal necklace to Kira.

"This necklace belonged to your mother," announces Riku, "The last thing she told me was to make sure I held on to it and to give it to you when you came back."

"For the longest time all I had left from my parents was the old blanket I was wrapped up in as a baby," states Kira quietly, "this necklace is so beautiful and I'll be able to wear until the day I can give it back to my mother for good. Thank you Riku."

"You are welcome Kira," smiles Riku, "Your Uncle tells me you need a ride to the Southern Water Tribe. I happen to have a spare ship I have been working on for fifteen years as a hobby to make seaworthy for you. Do you know anything about sailing a ship?"

"I learned the basics from my uncle," Kira answers, "But I was wondering if Ryu could come with me. I know you need him here, but I have no one else to travel with and he should know a lot more about sailing than me."

"My son his young, but ever since his mother died four years ago he has had to grow up quickly," contemplates Riku, "I believe he is ready to travel with you and would be better off than being stuck in this poverty stricken village with me. I can take care of myself, I am not nearly as old as I look."

* * *

><p>The next morning Kira awakens refreshed after sleeping on a comfortable bed for the first time in over a month. She walks over to Ryu's room to wake the boy up and tell him the good news.<p>

"Ryu, wake up!" yells Kira happily.

"Huh, Kira?" utters a half awake Ryu, "What is it?"

"Your father agreed to let you travel with me!" announces the excited girl.

"Really? This is a dream come true!" Ryu yells, "But doesn't he need me here?"

"He said I will need you more and that he can take care of himself," replies Kira.

"So I'm really going with you to travel around the world?" asks Ryu in disbelief.

"Yes!" states Kira impatiently.

* * *

><p>After fully awakening and gathering some supplies which were then loaded onto a small Earth Kingdom wooden schooner, Ryu prepares to say goodbye to his father, the only family he has.<p>

"Son, I am trusting you to protect Kira and yourself," states Riku seriously as he gives his son a final hug, "The world is a dangerous place, especially because of the war. Look out for each other and keep your mind forward. I have no idea if we will see each other again, but spirits willing we will. So long for now, we will see each other again when the time is right."

"Bye dad, thanks for letting me fulfill my dreams of traveling the world like you had once done with mom," states Ryu sadly.

"Thank you again Riku," declares Kira passionately, "My family is forever indebted to you for helping us in our time of need. I promise I will do whatever it takes to bring your son home to you."

With that the ship sails off as the sun reaches the midpoint in the bright blue sky.


End file.
